Welcome to beekeeping Intheswamp. You are indeed fortunate to have a mentor. Many have only had this place, others like it and the many publications available as teachers. Relish and obsorb all you can, you will become your own beek in the end. This place is just invaluable.

thomas

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"Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who say they've found it."

I still haven’t seen a single one of my quarter million honey bees on the Vitex Agnus yet, but I just snapped this photo of a hummingbird moth on it! I love those little buggers. They’re so fun to watch.

The Vitex just started blooming here about a week ago. Strangely I have not seen any Carpenter bees on it yet this year. Last year it was covered with them. They claimed this last winter took out 60% of our honey bees here in Michigan, maybe it also took out a lot of those carpenter bees. Wouldn’t that be a shame :-D

Welcome to beekeeping Intheswamp. You are indeed fortunate to have a mentor. Many have only had this place, others like it and the many publications available as teachers. Relish and obsorb all you can, you will become your own beek in the end. This place is just invaluable.

thomas

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www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

BlueBee, here is a leaf shot of my negunda. There just seedlings that I planted a month ago but they seem to be taking root pretty good. They definitely have the "hemp look"....I was concerned coming home with them as I had them sticking out of a 5-gallon bucket in the back of my jeep...I could just see a deputy sheriff getting behind me! :-D Ed

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www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

Lookin good there in the swamp! My Vitex Agnus leaves are not quite as serrated as your V. nugunda. You can propagate Vitex pretty easily by taking cuttings, dipping in Dip-N-Grow, and putting them under intermittent mist. They root in about 3 weeks. The only tricky part is getting the timing of the cuttings right.

I hear you about being concerned about Vitex looking like a hemp plant! With all due respect to some of our law enforcement officers out here, many are not very well versed in botany! I read an article where the local cops hauled away a guy for growing a caster bean plant because they thought it was marijuana. (Yes, I know Castor bean plants produce one of the most deadly toxins around should more outlawed than Hemp; but it's not. Go figure!)

These were some small seedlings growing around the base of some large plants. I dug'em up and kept them in water till the next day. Thankfully we've had a rainy spell since I planted them.

In regards to attracting bees, I'm pretty sure I've read where negundo variety is more attractive to honey bees than other varieties. But, other species are still attractive to bumble bees and other bee species...????

Ed

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www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

The Vitex Agnus definitely attracts the bumble bees. I see a lot of them on my bush.

The Vitex is a very nice looking plant to have in your yard no matter what. We normally have a lot more native nectar producing plants here all summer, so maybe my northern bees just find other things to visit. Lots of clover at the moment.

I'm hoping to use my plants to propagate more plants with. I figure I'll harvest seeds and plant them on fencerows, etc., to get some vitex-islands started. I'm keeping my eyes open for anything blooming during June/July/August...pretty slim pickings.

Down here in the heat of the summer it doesn't seem like there's a lot available for the bees...mostly crape myrtles and some passion flowers. I'm not sure clover would make it through the heat down here though I'm hoping to find out if New Zealand white will.

Ed

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www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev